Coffee, 1 am
by BlackStar42Roses
Summary: One in the morning is generally not a very enjoyable time of the day to work. Luckily, Cloud manages to find a good reason to work his midnight shift in the name of Zackary Fair. CloudxZack, AU.


Coffee, 1 am

I was having a really bad day so I just started writing. It's actually 1 am in the morning right now and I feel a little better. So here we are; a short drabble until I can find the drive to complete some of my main stories.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Any similarities in events or characters living or dead are entirely coincidental.

Enjoy!

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><p><em>Coffee, 1 am<em>

For the first time in his life, Cloud had a customer at 1 am.

It wasn't that he'd ever had customers late at night— the coffee shop was twenty-four hours after all— but normally, people don't come in at the ungodly hours to buy a cup of black coffee, no milk, half a spoon of sugar only please. Usually the last customer appears at around nine-thirty for an extra-large dose of caffeine (usually an exhausted university student preparing for yet another all-nighter) and things would quiet down until around twelve midnight, when all the drunk people come in and buy the most random things ever before tripping on the doormat on their way out. So at the moment, Cloud felt fully justified to gawk at the other man currently standing in front of him, dressed in casual jeans, a black shirt, and a sweater with a laptop tucked under his arm, a bright, sunny smile with a dimple in his left cheek.

"Uhm, black coffee, please? And only half a spoon of sugar, if you don't mind."

Cloud snapped back to reality and said quickly, "Of course, uh, please take a seat, I'll bring it out in a second."

The man smiled. "Gotcha," he answered, and left the counter to do just that.

Cloud grabbed a cup and poured the black liquid in while the other sat down by the window and turned the laptop on. Cloud mixed in the sugar and picked up a napkin before walking over to where the man sat, a bit nervous.

"Here you go; one black coffee."

The man beamed at him and said, "Thanks..." His bright eyes traveled to Cloud's nametag and said, "…Cloud. Why don't you take a seat? I doubt you'll have any other customers besides me. I'm Zack, by the way, Zack Fair." A hand was extended to the blonde. "Nice to meet you!"

Cloud blinked, and then shook Zack's hand, sliding into the seat opposite him. "Cloud Strife. It's nice to meet you too."

And that's how it all began. For Cloud, he found it enjoyable to have coherent company with him at night, and Zack seemed to enjoy the coffee as much as he liked chatting with Cloud. Zack, the blonde learned, was a novelist, and had several small but interesting pieces of work published already. Cloud liked to sit with Zack during his 1 am coffee runs, curling up in his seat and immersing himself in one of Zack's novels. The raven's presence was a warm, comforting one, and without realizing it, Cloud soon began to look forwards to Zack's visits.

It had been about two months after they'd initially met, and it was another night where Zack was typing away at his laptop and Cloud was finishing up another book.

"Wow, Zack, this is amazing," Cloud said, closing the novel. Zack beamed at him.

"Thanks, Cloudy," he replied, using the nickname he'd bestowed upon the blonde. "That means a lot."

Cloud smiled, feeling fuzzy on the inside, and walked over to the counter to pour another steaming cup of coffee for the other man. "Here you go, it's on me. Hang on; I'll get you a napkin."

Cloud turned back go get the paper towel, but to his surprise, Zack stood up and touched his hand. The blonde turned and blinked at him, confused.

"Zack…?"

The raven's eyes were uncharacteristically dark and solemn, and they held Cloud's baby blue orbs with their intensity.

"Cloud. I like you."

There was a moment of silence, and then, finally processing what the other had just told him, colour flooded into the blonde's face and he felt his heart pounding madly in his ribcage. Zack slipped his fingers through Cloud's thin ones and took a step closer.

"You wouldn't happen to like the person who comes in for coffee every night at 1am, would you?"

Cloud let the hand holding his rest against his palm for a moment, thinking, before looking up shyly and answering, "You mean the person who comes in for black coffee, no milk, and only half a spoon of sugar, right, Zack?"

Zack smiled impossibly wide, and he tugged Cloud forward, his other hand winding around the blonde's waist as Cloud took the initiative and reached up to touch Zack's face.

"I love you."

The cup of coffee, the coffee that had started all this, was left forgotten on the table in the midst of a blossoming relationship.

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><p><em>End<em>

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><p>For those of you who can't sleep, I'm with you. I hoped you guys liked this; short, but hopefully sweet. Thank you for reading!<p>

-BlackStar


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